COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – University of Maine men's ice hockey freshman Jeremy Swayman has been named to the U.S. National Junior Team preliminary roster for the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Junior Championship, as announced today by USA Hockey.

The goaltender will attend the U.S. pre-tournament camp in Columbus, Ohio, Dec. 15-19, which will be used as part of the selection process ahead of the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship. From the 28-player preliminary roster, a final roster of 23 players will don the U.S. sweater at the tournament, which is to be played in Buffalo, N.Y. from Dec. 26-Jan. 5. Team USA will play its preliminary-round games against Denmark, Slovakia, Canada and Finland.

Swayman, who was the November Hockey East Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Month runner-up, is 5-3-1 on the year with a .925 save percentage and 2.38 goals against average. His save percentage ranks him 11th in the country and second among rookies. He was also named the Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week on Nov. 20 after backstopping the Black Bears to a 5-2 win over then No. 19 Boston University with 40 saves.

The Anchorage, Alaska native is one of three goaltenders on the roster, joining Boston University's Jake Oettinger and Boston College's Joseph Woll.

The U.S. will compete in pre-tournament games against Belarus on Dec. 20 at the Northwest Arena in Jamestown, N.Y., where it will also train from Dec. 20-22. Team USA will then face Sweden for its final pre-tournament game on Dec. 22.

...Freshman goalie Jeremy Swayman was named Hockey East Player of the Week after he notched 95 saves in two games against Quinnipiac. Game 1 saw him stop 50 pucks en route to Maine's 7-4 come from behind win. The following night, Swayman got the start once more, and notched 45 saves as Maine completed the sweep with a 5-3 victory.

Swayman's .927 save percentage is eighth in the country, and he has started every game since the middle of November for the Black Bears.

...Over the last three games, all wins, Swayman has stopped 134 of the 143 shots he’s faced. He stopped 95 shots during this past weekend’s sweep at Quinnipiac, including 50 in Friday’s comeback victory.

“It’s tough when you only have two to three shots a period and then all of a sudden you get bombarded. Having consistent rubber the whole game helps me. With my mental game, I just try to take it one shot at a time. Seeing a lot of rubber helps me stay in the game,” said Swayman.

After a rocky first collegiate outing, it’s been a steady climb for the Anchorage, Alaska, native who now holds a .927 save percentage for the Black Bears, a program that hasn't been above .500 at the semester break since the 2013-14 season.

ORONO - Jeremy Swayman has become a star in net for the Maine men's hockey team, and he's continuing to show his prowess at a higher level.

Swayman survived the U.S. National Junior team's first round of cuts Thursday, as the team trimmed the roster to 26. He was invited to the team's camp prior to the upcoming world championships, and the roster will be cut by three more before it is finalized

I'm all in on Swayman. He's the best goalie Maine's had since Ben Bishop. A few interesting stats, Swayman is 8th in the country in save percentage, Maine is dead last in penalty killing and has the second most penalty minutes per game.

Blackbear28 wrote:I'm all in on Swayman. He's the best goalie Maine's had since Ben Bishop. A few interesting stats, Swayman is 8th in the country in save percentage, Maine is dead last in penalty killing and has the second most penalty minutes per game.

ORONO, MAINE (WABI) - UMaine freshman goaltender Jeremy Swayman made the cut today and he'll represent the United States at the IIHF World Junior Championships this week in Buffalo, New York. The tournament runs from Tuesday through January, 5th. It means he will miss UMaine's series at Rensselaer. It's a big deal to make the team. Teammate Eduards Tralmaks played for Latvia last year at the World Juniors. But, Swayman is the first Black Bear to play for team USA at World Juniors since Maine's own Greg Moore in 2004 according to UMaine Athletics.